The class of 11-A would like to present an excerpt of the court scene from the merchant of

Venice written by Shakespeare on grounds of the crime of Antonio and Shylock’s wish to
have his life for it. Through this skit we would like to further continue the topic of capital
punishments and its defence through the writings of Shakespeare.

Antonio had taken money from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender under an agreement that he
would give a pound of his flesh if he were incapable of paying back. Antonio’s ships do not
return and he fails to pay back. Following this, there takes place a court proceeding to execute
the terms of the contract.

DUKE
Well, is Antonio here?
ANTONIO
I'm here and ready, as you please.
DUKE
I am sorry for you Antonio. You have come here to face an adversary as stubborn as a
rock, an inhuman wretch incapable of pity,
ANTONIO
I have heard that you tried your hardest to change his rigid mind. I will meet his anger with
patience and suffer his tyranny and rage quietly.
SHYLOCK
Your grace, I have told you what my intention is, and I have sworn by the holy Sabbath to
take what is owed to me by our legal contract. I'm sure you're going to ask me why I would
choose to have a pound of flesh rather than the three thousand ducats I've been offered. My
hatred for Antonio isn’t a fact unknown. People's likes and dislikes are fickle and depend on a
person's mood. What if I had a rat in my house and I felt like paying ten thousand ducats to
have it killed? Is that enough of an answer for you?
DUKE
This is not a sufficient answer, you unfeeling man, to excuse your cruelty.
SHYLOCK
I am not bound to please you with answers.
DUKE
Do all men kill things they do not love?
SHYLOCK
What, would you let a snake sting you twice?
DUKE
You are offered six thousand ducats instead of the three. Do you agree to spare Antonio’s life
in exchange of it?
SHYLOCK
I wouldn't take your offer even if it were six times the money. I will take what is legally owed
to me.
ANTONIO
I am like a diseased sheep in a flock, one who ought to die. The weakest fruit drops earliest to
the ground. Let me drop like that fruit. The best thing you can do, Bassanio, is stay alive and
write my epitaph.
SHYLOCK
All you're doing by speaking so loudly is hurting your own lungs. Take care of your mind,
young man, or it will fall apart with time. I support the law.
PORTIA
[To ANTONIO] You are at his mercy, aren't you?
ANTONIO
Yes, as Shylock says.
PORTIA
Do you confess that you have broken the agreement?
ANTONIO
I do.
PORTIA
Then the Jew must be merciful.
SHYLOCK
Why? Why must I? Tell me why.
PORTIA
The quality of mercy is not forced. It is a doubly blessed thing: it blesses both the person
showing mercy and the person receiving it. Mercy is most admirable in the mightiest of men.
It looks better on a king than his crown. It is an attribute of God himself. Therefore, Jew,
although you are seeking justice, consider this: if God sought justice against all of us with no
mercy, we would all go to hell. We pray to God for mercy, and that same prayer should teach
us all to show mercy to others. This is what I have to say against your desire to seek justice
and make the strict court of Venice carry out the merchant's punishment.
SHYLOCK
My deeds are my responsibility. I want the law to be upheld, the penalty, that which he must
forfeit because of the loan.
PORTIA
Well, the penalty must be paid! The Jew may lawfully claim a pound of flesh to be cut off
from near the merchant's heart. Be merciful, Shylock. Take three times the money. Tell me to
tear up the agreement.
SHYLOCK
You can tear it up after the debt has been paid. You know the law. I am here to get what is
owed to me in the contract.
PORTIA
Well, then, this is it [LOOKING AT ANTONIO] you must prepare your chest for his knife.
SHYLOCK
What a wise and just judge! You are wise beyond your years!
ANTONIO
I am ready and well prepared. Farewell. Even in this situation Fortune has shown herself to
be kinder than she usually is. She at least cuts me off from this lingering misery. Speak well
of me to your honorable wife. Tell her how I met my end. Only regret that you are losing a
friend, and know that your friend does not regret paying your debt for you. If the Jew cuts
deeply enough, I'll gladly pay the debt with my own heart.
[SHYLOCK SMIRKS AND MOVES TOWARDS ANTONIO WITH A KNIFE]
PORTIA
Hold on a second. There's something else. This agreement doesn't give you any drop of
blood. The literal words are "a pound of flesh." So take what is yours, take your pound of
flesh, but if in cutting it off you shed one drop of Christian blood, your lands and goods will
be confiscated by the state of Venice.
DUKE
What a just judge! Listen to her, Jew. Oh you wise judge!
SHYLOCK
I'll take this offer, then: I'll take three times the money and let this Christian man go.
PORTIA
Wait! The Jew will have all his justice. Wait, don't rush this. He will have nothing but the
penalty he asked for.
SHYLOCK
Give me the money and let me go.
PORTIA
He has refused the money in the open court. He will have only justice and the penalty owed
to him.  It is enacted in the laws of Venice that if a foreigner is proved to have directly or
indirectly attempted to kill a citizen, the citizen against whom he plotted will take half of his
goods. The other half is confiscated by the state. And the guilty man's life is in the hands of
the Duke alone and his mercy. On your knees, then, and beg for the Duke's mercy.
DUKE
I pardon your life even before you ask, Shylock, so that you can see how different my spirit is
from yours. Half of your wealth belongs to Antonio. The other half goes to the state, and this
may be reduced to a simple fine if you show humility.
NARRATOR
The act ends by Shylock having to convert to Christianity, give up all his wealth and write a
will to surrender his remaining properties and wealth in the name of his daughter. The
proceedings in the play of merchant of Venice reflect upon a side of the debated topic- how
the sacredness of life is greatly emphasized upon and capital punishment of Antonio is
evaded.